When they meet
by A Natsume Yuujinchou lover
Summary: When Nura Rikuo goes in search of his grandfather's friend, and that friend happens to be Natsume Takashi's grandmother. Mainly Rikuo's POV as Natsume's normal lifestyle is too boring. Last chapter taken down for slight editing. -ALL FANFICS ON HIATUS-
1. Chapter 1

Before we start…

Author's note:

[]- audience

{}- my comments

Story:

_Example_- slanted words: flashback

Example- normal words: present storyline

**Example**- bold words: emphasis or changing of scene.

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><p>Mic test, One, Two, Three…<p>

Hey EVERYBODY! Did you guys miss me?

[nah~] {Aww… *Sniff* :'( }

Anyways, (wiping away tears) my End of Year Examinations are officially over, so i'll post this up as a bonus! :D (even though its thursday)

[even though you made some major screw-ups for some subjects here and there…] {SHH! Don't tell my readers that! _}

Continuing my author's note, I was wondering why my pen name was "A Natsume Yuujinchou lover" when I did not write any fanfic for Natsume Yuujinchou!

[mean~] {VOOOIII! STOP THAT! :( }

Here's the anime used for this story: This is a **Natsume Yuujinchou** and **Nurarihyon no Mago** crossover!

[Yay! Woot! Celebrate! Confetti! **VODKA~**] {Hey! When did Russia (from Hetalia) come from?}

All character rights go back to **Yuki Midorikawa**-sensei and **Hiroshi Shiibashi**-sensei respectively!

Thanks for all your support! :D

P.s this story is mainly Rikuo's POV as Natsume's normal lifestyle is too boring (as stated in the summary).

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><p>"I'm back!" Rikuo slipped off his school shoes and started greeting every one of the youkai he had met on his way to his grandfather's room. The war between the Hundred Stories Clan and his very own Parade of One Hundred Demons in Kyoto was finally over, and he could almost return to his original lifestyle. Well, except the fact that everyone in Tokyo now knows that he is one quarter youkai and three quarters human. He was lucky, though, that they seemed to be accepting this fact better now.<p>

"Grandpa! I'm back!" Rikuo slid open the traditional sliding doors of his grandfather's room, only to see him in deep thought. It took a while before he realized that Rikuo was already there.

"Ahh, Rikuo, have a seat." Rikuo walked over and sat down, facing his grandfather.

"What is it, grandpa?"

"Well... I need to you to help me do a favour." Rikuo's eyes widened at this. His grandfather had never asked him to help him at anything; And, if he ever did, it must have been important.

"I'll try, grandpa. What is it?" Rikuo tried to sound as assuring as possible. His grandfather did not seem so sure at first, but he decided to say it in the end.

"I need you to help me check on a friend." He answered.

cheep, cheep, cheep, cheeeeep

"EHH? You want me to do WHAT?" Rikuo slammed his hands on the coffee table and shouted in shock to his grandfather, who was sitting on the other side.

"Don't get so worked up, Rikuo… Even though I had expected that reaction." Nurarihyon continued while retaining his posture.

"Yeah, but I wanted to spend my holidays with my friends!" Rikuo, after realizing that he was being rude by slamming his hands on the table, sat back in his original position. "Why can't you go there yourself?"

"That's because I'm too old to go there. Is that a logical explanation?" Nurarihyon stated before grabbing Rikuo's arms from across the table. "Can't you JUST help your poor, old GRANDFATHER?"

Rikuo shuddered at his grandfather's words. It wasn't like he had a choice, anyway.

**XXX**

"Umm… I think we should alight here…" Rikuo analyzed his map carefully before alighting the train he had taken straight from Tokyo. He had a terrible habit of getting lost, but he had Yuki-Onna, Aotabo, Kurotabo, Kappa and Kubinashi with him as well.

"_At the place you're going, Youkai cannot be seen by normal people. Only those with strong spiritual energy can see Youkai. Knowing how clumsy you are, you had better bring some members of your Hyakki Yako to protect you." Nurarihyon explained._

"_Ehh, really…?" Rikuo pondered a while before asking again, "Grandpa, since you're a youkai and normal people won't be able to see you, does that mean that your friend has strong spiritual powers?"_

"_Yeah, she does. Apparently, I was just walking though a summer festival when she happened to bump into me. I had long realized that people there could not see youkai and took advantage of this to go there once in a while after your father took my place as commander." Nurarihyon stopped to catch his breath and continued, " After your father died, I had to take the place of commander once more, so I was unable to see her again."_

"Rikuo-sama! Let's go find this person quick and go back to the main house! It's too bright here!" Yuki-Onna, or currently Oikawa Tsurara, started tugging the sleeve of Rikuo's jacket. She was in her human form and was not used to the massive amount of sunlight, which was usually blocked out by high-rise buildings in Tokyo.

On the other hand, Aotabo, Kurotabo, Kappa and Kubinashi decided to retain their youkai forms as they could not be seen by normal people here and it was too troublesome to change into their human form anyways.

"Yuki-Onna, it's just a bit of sunlight. It won't kill you." Kubinashi spoke lazily. He was not used to the sunlight either but decided to not say anything.

"But it's way too hot~"

"Stop whining! It's not any better when I hear your voice and have to experience the dazzling amount of sunlight here!" Aotabo snapped at Yuki-Onna.

"What did you say?" Yuki-Onna shouted back, the two having a glaring contest. Rikuo sighed as the two continued arguing, glad that not many people were paying attention to Yuki-Onna, who was in her human form, arguing with something they could not see.

"Hey." Kurotabo spoke.

"WHAT?" The two arguing replied simultaneously.

"Kappa is currently dying behind us." Kurotabo answered monotonely.

"EHH?" Yuki-Onna, Aotabo and Rikuo answered together. True to his word, Kappa had dehydrated and needed water.

"A-Anyways, let's get some water for Kappa first!" Rikuo ran off to the nearest store to get a bottle of water.

**XXX**

After rehydrating Kappa and asking some of the people around, they eventually reached a very quiet town. Aotabo, Kurotabo, Kappa and Kubinashi decided to look around the area, so they left Yuki-Onna to protect Rikuo. However, the sun was setting and they had nowhere to stay.

"_If you are able to find my friend, I'm sure she'll be able to provide you with your basic necessities, so make sure you find her by sunset! The youkai in that area become active after that!"_

"Muu, Rikuo-sama, let's just go back!" Yuki-Onna whined once more as she pulled Rikuo's jacket sleeve even harder. "We do not even know whether we can find her or not!"

"We can't go back! Grandpa said…"

"_If you come back without finding her, SOMETHING will happen."_

"… Nevermind." Rikuo decided to ignore Yuki-Onna's whines as he continued looking around, hoping that his grandfather's friend will somehow turn up. Unknown to him, a small youkai approached him and pushed him from behind.

"AHH! What did you do to my precious Rikuo-sama? You'll pay for that!" Yuki-Onna screamed at the youkai before chasing after him into the forest.

"Tsurara! Wait-"

"Are you okay?" Rikuo turned to the person who had just spoke. It was a high schooler with silvery-blond hair. He also had a weird-looking cat beside him.

The boy analyzed him for a while before continuing, "You… No, it can't be. Anyways, you had better find somewhere to stay. It gets dangerous at night."

"Ehh?" Rikuo was in shock. What did he mean by 'It can't be?'.

"_What's her name?"_

"Who… Who are you?" Rikuo questioned the boy.

"_Her name's Reiko."_

"Natsume. Natsume Takashi. It's nice to meet you." He replied with a slight smile on his face.

-To be continued-


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everybody!

I'm sorry this chapter was posted up late... I was taking a nap after that really heavy downpour! X_X

I forgot to mention that this is the first time I'm writing a series! Please take care of me once again!

This is also my first Natsume Yuujinchou and Nurarihyon no Mago fanfic~

I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favourited, and read my story!

Oh yes, I'll be introducing two new characters today… Fujiwara Touko and Fujiwara Shigeru! :D

Special thanks to DarkKami, White Hunter and Immortalis Cruor Elf for the first three reviews and LadyEnvy13 for the first story alert! :D

As an extra note, I'll try to post every chapter up on Wednesday, Singapore GMT +8 time!

All character rights go back to Yuki Midorikawa-sensei and Hiroshi Shiibashi-sensei!

Enjoy!

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><p>"<em>What's her name?"<em>

"Who… Who are you?" Rikuo questioned the boy.

"_Her name's Reiko."_

"Natsume. Natsume Takashi. It's nice to meet you." He replied with a slight smile on his face.

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><p>"Natsume… Takashi?" Rikuo's eyes widened a little. The boy did not seem to be the least bothered about giving his name to a stranger. There was also this weird aura coming from him and his cat.<p>

"Takashi-kun, welcome back… Oh, who's this here?"

"Touko-san! Erm, I'm back, and… I found him outside." Rikuo saw the boy, or rather Natsume, trying to explain what he knew of the situation.

"Ara? You look like you're from the city. Do you have a place to stay for the night?" Rikuo shook his head politely. Touko smiled at Rikuo before announcing, "Well, you can stay here for a while. What do you think, Takashi-kun?"

"Ahh… It's fine." Natsume agreed to this, but Rikuo could hear the hesitation in his voice.

**XXX**

"Rikuo-sama! Where did you go? I was looking all over for you!" Yuki-Onna said to Rikuo, who had decided to wait for her outside before going in.

"I was taken in by this lady called Touko, and she said that I could stay for the night." Rikuo explained to Yuki-Onna. Apparently, she had gotten lost chasing the youkai and took a long time to come back. "Anyways, let's tell Touko-san about you, since you're still in your human form."

"Why? I can stay in my youkai form, can't I?" Yuki-Onna whined. Rikuo took her by the hand and brought her into the house, ignoring her question.

"Rikuo-kun, is that one of your friends?" Touko asked when the both of them entered.

"Yeah, she's my travelling companion. I'm sorry if we are being rude by staying here…" Rikuo replied.

"It's okay. Come and have dinner with us." Touko smiled once more. How would she respond if he told her that he was one quarter youkai? Would she still be able to smile like this?

**XXX**

"Good evening, Shigeru-san, Touko-san and Natsume-san. I'm Nura Rikuo, and the girl beside me is Oikawa Tsurara. It's nice to meet you." Rikuo stood up and gave a little bow before sitting down again. He noticed that Natsume was staring at him, but it was not in an affectionate way.

"This person is very much like Takashi when he just moved in." Shigeru commented. Natsume and Rikuo turned to Shigeru at once.

"Ehh?"

"Shigeru, stop it. You're making the boys nervous." Touko turned to the both of them. I'm really sorry, Rikuo-kun, Takashi-kun."

"No, it's okay." Natsume smiled.

"It's alright…" Rikuo muttered shyly before taking another look at Natsume. He was, once again, looking at him. Unfortunately, Yuki-Onna also noticed this.

"Hey, why do you keep staring at Rikuo-sama?" Yuki-Onna voiced out.

"Ehh?"

"Don't 'ehh?' me. That's very disrespectful, since he's the Nura Clan's third comman-" Yuki-Onna was shut up by Rikuo, who had covered her mouth to prevent her from speaking any further.

"Haha, I'm sorry. She says a lot of weird stuff…" Rikuo said to The Fujiwaras. This time, Natsume seemed to be in deep thought, before turning to his weird-looking cat eating on the floor.

**XXX**

"Hey, Tsurara? Do you think that Natsume Takashi knows that I'm part youkai?" Rikuo asked Yuki-Onna while he lay on a futon in the Fujiwara household's guest room.

"I don't think so. Only people in Tokyo know of that fact." Yuki-Onna replied while looking outside the window.

"I see… Guess I'm just overreacting then." Rikuo heaved a sigh of relief and sat up before turning into his youkai form. "Alright, it's about time we start investigating this area. Let's go and catch up with Aotabo and the rest of them, Tsurara."

**XXX**

"Let's take a breather here." Aotabo sat under a tree with Kurotabo sitting opposite him.

"In the end, we only found a few small fry youkai around here… It's no wonder humans cannot see us. Nurarihyon did say that youkai cannot be seen here. I guess that's because the energy level of youkai here is not as strong as that of Tokyo." Kurotabo sighed before lying down.

"So that makes Kyoto youkai the strongest, then…" Images of the war with the Kyoto youkai and the Hundred Stories Clan started flashing in Aotabo's mind. Not like he wanted to remember them, though. At this moment, Rikuo, in his youkai form, and Yuki-Onna arrived.

"Did you find any information?" Rikuo asked the two. Aotabo shook his head while Kurotabo sat up and said nothing. Yuki-Onna wanted to tease them a little, but also realized that gathering information, was indeed, hard. So she asked something else.

"Hey, where's Kubinashi and Kappa?"

"There're elsewhere gathering information. We haven't heard of them yet." Kurotabo spoke, before being interrupted by Kubinashi himself, who was carrying kappa on his back.

"Hey guys! I need some water!" Kubinashi shouted. "Kappa's unconscious again!"

"Don't worry. I prepared some just in case something like this ever happened." Rikuo took out the bottle he had tucked away safely into his jacket and poured its contents on Kappa.

"As expected of Rikuo-sama!" Yuki-Onna chirped.

"Thank you once again, Rikuo-sama… In any case, I've found some information from a fellow Kappa I had met near the lake. I managed to get some information from him." The refreshed Kappa announced to everyone.

"What kind of information?" Rikuo questioned him straight away.

"Well, there is no Youkai clan here, but they say that there's someone very strong here instead." Rikuo raised one of his eyebrows. "This person called Reiko?"

"Yeah! That person's said to beat up youkai and challenge them to games before taking away their 'names'!" Kappa continued. "How did you know of her, Rikuo-sama?"

Well… That's person we're looking for." Rikuo paused before answering. "Well, according to my grandpa, that is."

Everyone turned to Rikuo in shock before answering, "EHH?"

**XXX**

"Either way, it's going to be sunrise soon so I'd better head back." Rikuo stood up."Do you guys have a place to stay temporarily?"

"Yes, we found this very large temple, and barely any Youkai go near it. We could use that place for a while." Aotabo replied.

"Hmm. That's good. Inform me immediately when you find anything regarding this 'Reiko'." Rikuo turned to head back.

"Yes, Rikuo-sama!" Rikuo made his way back with Yuki-Onna accompanying him back. He had a smile on his face as he knew that his Youkai would be alright in an unknown place. When he almost reached the Fujiwara residence, he saw some weak youkai near the area, but was against approaching them head on. He had to get back as soon as possible.

**XXX**

"Get some rest, Tsurara. We're going to need it later on." Rikuo told Yuki-Onna before turning back into his human form and fell fast asleep. Yuki-Onna sighed before turning in as well, hoping that they could get back to the main house as soon as possible.

-to be continued-


	3. Chapter 3

Hi everyone!

My End-of-year results are out, and I think that they're not too bad… (Well, chinese's an exception…)

Today's Deepavali in Singapore, so there's no school! Yay! :D

Continuing my author's notes, Please enjoy this chapter and thanks for all the reviews, favouriting and support!

Opps, I think I'm really getting lazy to write both my story and the author's notes. X_x

All character rights go back to Yuki Midorikawa-sensei and Hiroshi Shiibashi-sensei, kora!

P.s Persona 4: the animation and UN-GO are really great series' from this autumn's anime release. :D

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><p><strong>Natsume's POV<strong>

"Natsume! Pass me one of those buns!" Nyanko pounced onto Natsume's shoulders, eyeing on the buns Natsume bought from Nanatsuji **[1] **on the way back from school.

"You can't, sensei! We'll be eating those later so just wait until then, okay?" Natsume turned to face the cat on his left shoulder before holding the packet of buns further away from it. "Besides, cats aren't allowed to eat sweets."

"How many times must I tell you that I'm NOT A CAT?" Nyanko started whacking Natsume using his right paw before they almost reached the Fujiwara household, when Nyanko jumped off Natsume's shoulder and ran ahead of him.

"Nyanko-sensei? Where are you going?" Natsume called after Nyanko before finally catching him. "Don't go running off like that ever agai-"

"_Muu, Rikuo-sama, let's just go back! We do not even know whether we can find her or not!"_

Natsume stared towards the direction of the voice before turning back to Nyanko, who had a serious look in his eyes. He was looking towards the direction of the Fujiwara residence.

"_We can't go back! Grandpa said…" _There was a short pause._ "Nevermind."_

"Sensei, who do you think that is?" Natsume asked.

"I'm not sure, but their aura isn't very pleasing." Nyanko answered.

"_Wha-"_

"_AHH! What did you do to my precious Rikuo-sama? You'll pay for that!"_

"Sensei, we had better go check them out." Natsume started running.

"Hey Natsume! Tch, that brat…" It was not long before they reached the front of the Fujiwara residence.

"_Tsurara! Wait-" _The boy had an arm raised to the forest beside him, as if he was trying to catch something that had just ran away. Natsume did not know why he was on the ground, but people would usually ask how they are first, so…

"Are… you okay?" Natsume hoped that his voice sounded convincing, even though he was really nervous. The boy turned and looked up towards him. Youkai aura was seeping out of him. It is not very obvious to normal people, but to Natsume and Nyanko, it was definitely there.

"You…" _'Are you a youkai?' Natsume wanted to ask. However, he went against that idea. People would not like being called a youkai anyways. _"… No, it can't be. Anyways, you had better find somewhere to stay. It gets dangerous at night."

"Ehh?" The boy was surprised that Natsume's cutting off of words and was also staring at Nyanko. "Who… Who are you?"

"Natsume. Natsume Takashi. It's nice to meet you." Natsume decided to put on his typical poker face smile so that this boy would not feel uncomfortable.

"Takashi-kun, welcome back… Oh, who's this here?"

"Touko-san! Erm, I'm back, and… I found him outside." Natsume explained, hoping that Touko would not feel uneasy about it.

"Ara? You look like you're from the city. Do you have a place to stay for the night?"Natsume saw the bopy shake his head politely. Touko then smiled at him before announcing, "Well, you can stay here for a while. What do you think, Takashi-kun?"

"Ahh… It's fine." Natsume agreed; But he felt it was a bad idea to do so.

**XXX**

"Good evening, Shigeru-san, Touko-san and Natsume-san. I'm Nura Rikuo, and the girl beside me is Oikawa Tsurara. It's nice to meet you." Rikuo stood up and gave a little bow before sitting down again. Natsume eyed this Nura Rikuo- there was something about him that he did not really get.

"This person is very much like Takashi when he just moved in." Shigeru commented. Natsume blushed and turned to Shigeru.

"Ehh?"

"Shigeru, stop it. You're making both boys nervous." Touko turned to the both of them. I'm really sorry, Rikuo-kun, Takashi-kun."

"No, it's okay." Natsume smiled.

"It's alright…" Rikuo muttered. Natsume once again stared at Rikuo, wondering about his aura.

"Hey, why do you keep staring at Rikuo-sama?" Rikuo's friend voiced out.

"Ehh?" Natsume twitched a bit in surprise. Was that what others thought he was doing?

"Don't 'ehh?' me. That's very disrespectful, since he's the Nura Clan's third comman-"The girl spoke before she was stopped by Rikuo.

"Haha, I'm sorry. She says a lot of weird stuff…" Rikuo said. Natsume turned to Nyanko: there were some things they would need to discuss that night.

**XXX**

"And? You think Nura Rikuo is a youkai?" Nyanko said out loud while chewing on a piece of grilled squid.

"That's not very accurate, sensei… His aura's more like it's sometimes youkai and mostly human." Natsume corrected.

"I see, the result of a youkai marrying a human, huh…" Nyanko muttered.

"Sensei?"

"It's nothing. Anyways, do you think that Nura Rikuo knows of your ability to see youkai?" Natsume thought for a while before answering.

"I don't know that yet, but I'd rather not let him know." Natsume's eyes were full of determination.

"Hmph. Keep a look out then." Nyanko snorted before grabbing a nearby cookie and eating it.

"Natsume-dono!" There was a call from outside. Natsume opened the window and saw his one-eyed youkai **[1] **friend with the ox-look-a-like youkai friend.

"What's the matter?" Nyanko asked.

"There were some youkai from a youkai clan originating in Tokyo in the eight fields today. They did not hurt anyone, but they seemed really strong." That same youkai stated. "Please keep a lookout for them, Natsume-dono."

"Alright, I will." Natsume replied. The two bowed a little before going back into the forest.

"Natsume, hurry and go to sleep. There's still school tomorrow." Nyanko told Natsume before head-butting him unconscious and tucking him into bed. He had some investigating to do on this 'youkai clan'.

-to be continued-

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><p><strong>[1]<strong>- For the Natsume Yuujinchou fans: if anyone knows Natsume's two youkai friends' names please tell me in a review! I don't want to keep calling them 'one-eyed youkai' and 'ox-look-a-like'. Well, I think the one-eyed youkai's name was something like 'Chi-yu-kyuu' or something… I don't know how to spell it! ' ^ '

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><p><strong>IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! :D<strong>

I'll be posting up a short one-shot to decide on my next fanfic after this series. Please review it after it's out! More detailed instructions will be on that fanfic itself~ :)


	4. Chapter 4

Hi, everybody! Sorry I'm late ' ^ '

I had this feeling that the previous chapter was a bit slow... If it really is, I sincerely apologise! (bows)

In this chapter, I'll be introducing... Nishimura Satoru and Kitamoto Atsushi! :D

Here's something to announce: 371 HITS for October! I never checked until today! O_O

Thanks for all the support and to Milennia-hime for the useful information! (bows repeatedly)

I have something to announce after this chapter, so please enjoy it until then.

All character rights go back to Yuki Midorikawa-sensei and Hiroshi Shiibashi-sensei!

P.s Btw I went to Kinokuniya, Takashimaya in Singapore two weeks ago, and when I placed the volumes of Nurarihyon no mago together they formed a continuous, long picture of the characters in Nurarihyon no Mago, good and bad! :D

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><p>"Get some rest, Tsurara. We're going to need it later on." Rikuo told Yuki-Onna before turning back into his human form and fell fast asleep. Yuki-Onna sighed before turning in as well, hoping that they could get back to the main house as soon as possible.<p>

"Good morning, Tsurara..." Rikuo yawned before rubbing his eyes an looking around for Yuki-Onna. Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen. Rikuo gasped before quickly changing out if his night attire, kept the futon and ran downstairs, worried that Yuki-Onna had left home without him.

"I'm leaving~" Rikuo heard Natsume shout before the house doors were shut.

"Good morning, Rikuo-kun. Did you sleep well?" Touko asked when Rikuo entered the dining room.

"Ahh, yes. Thank you for letting me stay here for the night." Rikuo bowed a little, without mentioning a word about the rendevous he had with some of his Hyakki Yako members the previous night.

"It's good to hear that." Touko smiled before continuing, "In any case, you aren't going back anytime soon, right? You can stay here for as long as you like, since you don't have a place to stay."

"Is... That alright with you?" Rikuo asked.

"Yes, it's no problem at all. In any case, your friend has been insisting that she did breakfast for you, so please wait a while." Touko walked outside to hang some of the laundry.

"Rikuo-sama~ I made breakfast for you~" Yuki-Onna chirped as she brought Rikuo his 'breakfast'- a bowl of shaved ice.

"Tsu-Tsurara! I can't eat shaved ice for breakfast!" Rikuo stammered.

"Ehh? Why?" Yuki-Onna gave a puzzled look on her face.

"Anyways, let's just continue our search for Reiko. The sonner we find her, the better." Rikuo got out of his seat, said his goodbyes to Touko and left the Fujiwara residence with Yuki-Onna. He was not going to spend any unnecessary time explaining to Yuki-Onna the reason why humans CANNOT eat shaved ice for breakfast.

**XXX**

"Hey! Tsurara! Where did you go?" Rikuo shouted. Apparently, Rikuo and Yuki-Onna got separated again; And this time, she went to chase after a one-eyed youkai and a bull-look-a-like youkai who were spying on them. Rikuo sighed. He did not have a map of this area and he also did not know which youkai can be trusted either.

After a while, he heard a ringing of school bells. He turned to the source of the ringing, only to see that many students were exiting a nearby school. Rikuo was surprised as he thought that schools here had also closed for the summer holidays. He then decided to approach a student for directions.

"Ummm..." Rikuo approached a boy around Natsume's age, who was standing near the school gates.

"You can call me Atsushi Kitamoto, or Kitamoto for short. What is it?" the boy asked. Rikuo started wondering why people here were okay with giving their names freely, but when he opened his mouth to ask, he was interrupted by a shout.

"Hey! Kitamoto! Sorry for making you wait!". Nishimura and Natsume ran over to where Rikuo and Kitamoto are. Rikuo and Natsume's eyes met.

"Nura-san?" Natsume looked at Rikuo in shock.

"Good... Good afternoon, Natsume-san."

**XXX**

"Hey Natsume, why didn't you tell me that you had a friend from Tokyo?" Nishimura whined while leaning on Natsume's back. He was a bit similar to Yuki-Onna, in a way.

"I only found him outside my house yesterday. It's not like we've been friends for a long time." Natsume replied, looking very uncomfortable about Nishimura's current position.

"That reminds me, shouldn't you have school now?" Kitamoto asked Rikuo.

"My school holidays started last week... I study in a school in Tokyo." Rikuo answered, hoping that they would not be too shocked.

"WHAT? YESTERDAY?" Nishimura shouted. Okay, maybe ONE did.

"Hey Nishimura, don't be rude." Kitamoto used the book in his hand and whacked Nishimura on the head.

"Ow! Kitamoto! You don't have to do that!" Nishimura shouted in protest.

As Rikuo watched the bickering between the three friends in front of him, he heard a voice from the forest beside him.

"... Reiko... ...me Reiko... Yuujinchou..." Rikuo was shocked. "Who was that calling 'Reiko'? And there's NO WAY that Reiko could be here; she's female! The only explanation is that whoever was calling 'Reiko' had mistaken her for someone else; But exactly WHO is it?

Suddenly, a large youkai jumped out of the forest towards the four of them, and it seemed that only Rikuo could see the youkai.

"Look out!" Natsume shouted. Rikuo turned to see Natsume falling on Nishimura and Kitamoto. He did not know whether Natsume had seen the youkai or he had coincidently tripped. Either ways, he had to protect them from that youkai; But how could he do it with the three of them here? He can't activate Nenekimaru in front of them, nor he could transform into his youkai self. Luckily for Rikuo, Aotabo appeared from behind the youkai before whacking it away.

"Thanks, Aotabo." Rikuo whispered to him before turning to his friends, whom he had expected did not see anything. To his dismay, Natsume had his head turned towards the direction of the youkai who was trying to attack them.

"Hey, Natsume, what's wrong?" Nishimura asked him. They were all still on the ground due to Natsume falling on them.

"Ahh, it's nothing. I thought I heard this weird sound, and when I tried to hear it once more I tripped." Natsume apologised while helping his two friends get back on their feet with the help of Rikuo.

"You sure?" Kitamoto asked worriedly.

"Yeah," Natsume smiled. "Let's get back."

**XXX**

"Hey, Aotabo. Thanks for protecting those guys this afternoon." Rikuo said in his youkai form.

"I wasn't protecting them, Rikuo-sama. I was only protecting you." Aotabo replied.

"Ehh? Rikuo-sama got attacked?" Yuki-Onna screamed.

"Anyways, the target of this youkai is Reiko. Since Reiko is female, it most likely means that that youkai had mistaken one of the three guys with me as Reiko." Rikuo thought for a while before asking Aotabo, "That youkai mentioned Reiko's first name. Aotabo, Kurotabo, did you hear it?"

"Nope, I didn't hear anything." Aotabo answered. Kurotabo also shook his head.

"I see... Kappa, Kubinashi, do you have any more information from that Kappa friend of yours?"

"Nope, nothing new yet." Both replied together.

"Hmm... Alright. We'll meet again tomorrow night. Take care." Rikuo said before heading back to the Fujiwara household with Yuki-Onna.

-to be continued-

* * *

><p>Erm… Hey guys, just got a small note to write here (YES, at the end of the chapter), and I hope it won't dampen your spirits…<p>

I'll be going on a school trip to New Zealand from the 7th November to the 15th of November; And that means that this story will be on a **2 WEEK HAITUS!** *sniffs* :'(

ANYWAYS!

I'll use this time to make chapters 5 and 6 even better for you guys!

Well, I'll see you all in 3 weeks time!

Take care!


	5. Chapter 5

Erm, hi everybody.

I know this story's supposed to be on hiatus this week, but I COULDN'T help myself! I miss all of you sooooo much! *air hugs readers* Phew! I made it! :D

Anyways, I'm was just back from New Zealand yesterday, and I was jet-lagging a little. Well, I'd say NZ is a really great place! The air's fresh and clean, and there's lots of sea shells to collect... Sadly there was an oil spill recently so there's tar everywhere. Oh yes, and i did a little 'water bending' at the glow worm Waitomo caves.

*Opens cup of Jagabee*To tell you guys the truth, I had actually finished chapter 5 (which was on my sister's ipod touch, so to speak) but I had accidentally deleted it! *munches* Mmm, so to make things short, please enjoy this chapter, and thanks for all the support! :D

All character rights go back to Yuki Midorikawa-sensei and Hiroshi Shiibashi-sensei! *sips tea like Mad Hatter*

P.s FairyTail's AWESOME! I just passed chapter 200... Zeref is like so CUTE (no wonder they got Akira Ishida to voice him), Gerard is really cool (both earthland and edo), BUT my absolute fav is GRAY! GAMBATE! XD

* * *

><p>"Natsume, hurry and go to sleep. There's still school tomorrow." Nyanko told Natsume before head-butting him unconscious and tucking him into bed. He had some investigating to do on this 'youkai clan'.<p>

* * *

><p><strong>Natsume' s POV<strong>

"Liar! Liar!" Natsume woke up with a start, only to find that was having another dream about his past. He stirred, but seemed to be unable to move.

"Nyanko-sensei..." He opened his eyes, only to find his protector sitting on him in his original form, with his jaws almost about to bite Natsume's head. Natsume shouted in shock before his punch successfully reached Nyanko's face.

**XXX**

"Muu, someday i'm really going to eat you." Nyanko snorted.

"You aren't supposed to do that, sensei." Natsume replied while clearing his futon. That may have been the tenth time he had tried to do so in his sleep.

"Takashi-kun? If you don't hurry, you're going to be late for school." Touko called from the kitchen.

"Ah, yes!" Natsume changed out of his sleeping attire and ran down the stairs, quickly eating his breakfast before running out of the house. "I'm leaving!"

**XXX**

"Hey, Natsume, want to stop by Nanatsuji on the way back?" Nishimura asked. School was just over.

"I'm sorry, I was just there yesterday, so I don't feel like going there again…" Natsume replied.

"I see... Hey, how about fishing this Saturday?" Nishimura suggested excitedly.

"… I'm okay, but we should ask Kitamoto too." Natsume nodded reluctantly. He felt that he was going to have to trouble Touko with the travelling costs again.

"He's waiting at the gate. Hey Natsume, hurry!" Nishimura and Natsume picked up their bags and ran to the school gates to meet Kitamoto.

"Hey! Kitamoto!" Nishimura yelled. Kitamoto and the boy beside him turned to the source of the sudden shout. Natsume was in shock. That boy was Rikuo.

"... Nura-kun?" Natsume asked, uncertain if Rikuo had coincidently found his school, and to add on, one of his friends, or he had followed him here. Rikuo seemed shocked himself.

"Good... Good afternoon, Natsume-san." Nishimura and Kitamoto stared at Natsume and Rikuo in surprise.

**XXX**

"Hey Natsume, why didn't you tell me that you had a friend from Tokyo?" Natsume looked at Rikuo while Nishimura started leaning on his back. He was staring intently at Nishimura and seemed to be in deep thought.

"I only found him outside my house yesterday. It's not like we've been friends for a long time." Natsume replied, squirming a bit in an attempt to get Nishimura off him.

"That reminds me, shouldn't you have school now?" Kitamoto asked Rikuo. Natsume stopped for a while- it's the exact same question he had wanted to ask but did not want to offend Rikuo.

"My school holidays started last week... I study in a school in Tokyo." Rikuo answered.

"WHAT? YESTERDAY?" Nishimura shouted. Natsume could have sworn that his hearing just got worse due to that.

"Hey Nishimura, don't be rude." Kitamoto used the book in his hand and whacked Nishimura on the head. That made Nishimura release his grip on Natsume and turn to Kitamoto.

"Ow! You don't have to do that!" Nishimura shouted in protest. Natsume chuckled a little, before a very familiar voice echoed around him.

"... Reiko... Natsume Reiko... Yuujinchou... Give me the Yuujinchou...!" Natsume froze. The youkai going after the Yuujinchou could hurt his friends. His only alternative was to run away, making the youkai follow him, but Rikuo seemed as if he had already suspected that Natsume could see youkai! What could he do?

Suddenly, the large youkai jumped out of the forest towards the four of them. Natsume decided to do the very basic way of protecting his friends- by pretending to fall on them and avoiding the youkai's attack.

"Look out!" Natsume shouted, pretending that he had tripped and he fell on his two friends, causing them to fall on the ground as well. To Natsume's surprise, however, a giant youkai that seemed to resemble a monk suddenly came and whacked the youkai away with his staff.

As Natsume watched the youkai tumble away and finally roll to a stop, he did not notice that his friends were trying to get back on their feet, nor that Rikuo was also staring at him in shock. He was surprised, though, that another youkai had come to save them, and that it was a strong one, too.

"Hey, Natsume, what's wrong?" Nishimura asked. Natsume turned suddenly.

"Ahh, it's nothing." Natsume apologised while trying to come up with an excuse and helping his friends get back on their feet with the assistance of Rikuo. "I thought I heard this weird sound, and when I tried to hear it again, I tripped."

"Are you sure?" Kitamoto asked worriedly."

"Yeah," Natsume flashed his usual poker face smile. "Let's get back."

**XXX**

"Nyanko-sensei, don't wander off too far again." Natsume shouted to Nyanko, who was running around catching some dragonflies at the eight fields.

"Muu, you don't understand, Natsume. I'm doing this for you." Nyanko shouted back.

"I don't understand how catching dragonflies is part of doing me a favour." Natsume muttered under his breath. He had taken Nyanko out for a walk after dinner and Nyanko was doing his usual thing- catching dragonflies. Natsume sighed.

He turned to the forest beside the fields, only to see two monk-like youkai in a nearby tree, obviously trying to hide their presence. Natsume recognised the less human-like one, who was also the one who protected his friends from the Yuujinchou-wanting youkai that afternoon.

"Hey, were you the one who saved my friends this morning?" Natsume called out to the less human-like one. Both youkai looked up and stared at Natsume in shock.

"Human, can you see us?" The human-like one asked, ignoring Natsume's question.

"Ahh... Yes." Natsume replied, Nyanko running to his side.

"What's youkai from a clan in Tokyo doing here?" Nyanko demanded the two, also ignoring Natsume's question.

"It's none of your business," The less human-like said. "But we can assure you that we will not harm any youkai here unnecessarily. "

"Aotabo, it's about time we'd leave." The human-like one told his companion.

"Tch, alright..." The less human-like one, or Aotabo, stood up and turned to go.

"Erm..." Natsume shouted, causing both youkai to stop and turn to Natsume. "Thanks for saving my friends this afternoon." The less human-like one smiled a little before both youkai went on their way.

"Natsume! You were attacked by another youkai this afternoon?" Nyanko demanded. "For not telling me, I'll have you buy me another bun from Nanatsuji!"

"It's your fault for not being there to protect me, even though you are supposed to be my guardian." Natsume answered back. "Besides, cats aren't supposed to eat buns."

"I already told you before, I'm NOT A CAT!"

-to be continued-


	6. Chapter 6

Hey everybody!

This story's back on a roll! I think I can continue writing it! Sadly, I don't have the ending fully planned yet (but I have some ideas, so don't worry). Oh yes, thanks to all my readers, favouriters, subscribers and reviewers! *sends air hugs via story before coughing* Argh, I think I'm sick… *Achoo!*

Regarding my anonymous reviewer **no one**, every chapter comes out on Wednesday, Singapore GMT +8 time, so please be patient! That way, my readers don't have to keep checking my story to see if a new chapter is out!

Okay guys, this is a little important, so please read this. I'll be introducing different POVs through the story (but they won't be very long, don't worry) so that I can keep the story going. Hence, you'll get to see what some of Rikuo's youkai do behind the scenes! :D

And good news to all Natsume Yuujinchou fans, I'll be introducing Tanuma Kaname!

All character credits go back to Yuki Midorikawa-sensei and Hiroshi Shiibashi-sensei! :D

P.s Now that I've read FairyTail manga to the most recent chapter, I'll just wait until the anime introduces the awakened Zeref (where I'll get to hear Akira Ishida). Darker than Black: Ryussei no Jemini's ending sucks, too. *SIGHS* One week of marathoning both Darker than Black anime series: COMPLETE! XD

* * *

><p>"I see... Kappa, Kubinashi, do you have any more information from that Kappa friend of yours?"<p>

"Nope, nothing new yet." Both replied together.

"Hmm... Alright. We'll meet again tomorrow night. Take care." Rikuo said before heading back to the Fujiwara household with Yuki-Onna.

* * *

><p><strong>Aotabo and Kurotabo's POV<strong>

"Are you sure you don't want to tell Rikuo-sama about that human boy?" Kurotabo asked after Rikuo left.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Aotabo looked into the distance, recalling his meeting with that other boy who could see youkai. "It's something he should tell Rikuo-sama by himself."

"Even if he's our only lead to finding Reiko?" Aotabo turned to Kurotabo, smirking.

"Yeah." He replied. "After all, even Rikuo-sama has secrets he doesn't want humans to know."

"I see. I won't say anything more then."

**XXX**

**Rikuo's POV**

"Good morning, Tsurara…" Rikuo yawned. Another day has passed since he left Tokyo in search of Reiko. Since then, he had gotten some clues about who Reiko was, and quite a bit of suspicion about Natsume, but he did not know anything else.

"Rikuo… sama…" Rikuo heard someone calling his name from outside. He opened the window to see Kappa, who was dehydrating in the Fujiwara residence's backyard.

"Please wait, Kappa, I'll get you up here as soon as I can!" Rikuo jumped off the second level window to avoid being seen by any passerbys before bringing in Kappa though the main door. He looked around, but both Natsume and Touko were nowhere to be seen. So was Yuki-Onna.

"Phew! I'm refreshed again." Kappa let out a sigh of relief before continuing, "Rikuo-sama. I have something important to tell you."

"What is it?" Rikuo asked urgently.

**XXX**

**Kubinashi's POV**

Kubinashi had enough. All he wanted to do was follow Rikuo to this unknown place and help him find this person called 'Reiko'. After days of searching, however, Kubinashi was starting to lose patience. It was useless to search without using any force. He walked up to a bunch of random youkai and attacked them with his strings.

"Hey, you bastards, where's this person called 'Reiko'?" Kubinashi walked up to the nearest youkai and held it up by his string.

"We… We don't know! Every time we try to catch her, **[1]** she always runs away!" The youkai shuttered. "Please don't hurt me!"

"So, she 's still alive, huh?" Kubinashi glared daggers at the youkai.

"Y-y-yeah!" Another youkai continued. "She always uses a stick or a bat to attack us , but now she has a weird white piglet following her around!"

"Is that all?" Kubinashi demanded.

"Of course, so let us go, for goodness sake! That's all we know!" A third protested. "Who do you think you are, anyways? Attacking youkai out of the blue!"

"I am from the Nura clan. If any one of you has a grudge on me, you can come and defeat me. If you aren't afraid to die, that is…" Kubinashi turned to go. "And yes, if I find out that any one of you is lying, you'll know what would happen to your clan."

**XXX**

**Rikuo's POV**

"What? Kubinashi went missing?" Rikuo shouted in disbelief.

"It's true. I could tell from his attitude yesterday that he was not very happy with the progress of Reiko's search, and when I realized that he had left earlier than me this morning, I fear that he could have done something we did not want to." Kappa answered.

"We had better go find him, and fast!" Rikuo changed out of his pajamas and ran down the stairs with Kappa following closely behind him.

"He may be at the eight fields, since he's most familiar with that area." Kappa took out a small container of water and poured it out in the shape of a circle. "Kappa Ninpō, Tōrinuke Shinobi Ike!" **[2]**

"Hey Kappa, we don't have to use thi- AHHHHH!" Without warning, Kappa pushed Rikuo into the water.

**XXX**

"Phew! I thought I was going to die for a moment there!" Rikuo panted when he had finally gotten out of Kappa's teleportation technique. He looked around. "Are we at the eight fields yet?"

"Yes, Rikuo-sama." Kappa answered. "I'm not surprised that you don't recognize it, though. You always at night so you don't know how this place looks like in the daytime."

"Right, we had better find Kubinashi quick, of we'll be in a lot of trouble." Rikuo turned back and realized that he had just gotten out of this pond with a lot of beautiful and colourful fishes. "Hey Kappa, what's that pond?"

Before Kappa could answer, however, the sliding doors of the building beside the pond opened.

"No, as you can see, there's no pond there!" The dark haired boy said to his friend. "That's why I guessed that that pond is probably…"

"Huh? But there's definitely a pond there…" The friend of the dark haired boy answered back.

"There isn't a pond there."

"I see…" The dark-haired boy turned to his friend with a very concerned look. **[3] **However, the boy had spotted Rikuo and turned towards his direction.

"There's somebody there, next to those rocks." The dark-haired boy stared at Rikuo, who was obviously soaking wet and had not enough time to escape.

"Who?" The friend behind the sliding door asked with a slightly worried tone, before sliding the doors fully. To Rikuo's dismay, it was Natsume.

"Nura… san?" Natsume shuttered. Rikuo realized that Natsume might have thought that he was a stalker or something. After all, they had been meeting each other out of the Fujiwara residence, and it can't always seem like a coincidence.

"It.. It's not like it seems, Natsume-san!" Rikuo started explaining. "I was looking for a friend of mine, and I thought he might be around here." That statement made Natsume look very relieved, for some reason. There was a moment of silence before Natsume's dark haired friend spoke.

"Natsume, you know him?" he asked.

"Yeah, he's staying at my house for a while." Natsume answered with a bit of uncertainty in his voice. "His name is Nura Rikuo and he's from Tokyo."

"Nice to meet you, Rikuo-san. I'm Tanuma Kaname. Just call me Tanuma, okay?" Tanuma smiled before suddenly clutching his head and wincing in pain.

"Are you alright?" Rikuo asked after running up to him from where he was.

Yeah, I'm just fine. This happens a lot, but it had gotten worse for the past few days. Especially at night." Tanuma explained before turning to Rikuo. "You'll catch a cold if you stay in those clothes, so come in."

"Are you sure? I… think I'll just be troubling you." Rikuo said.

"It's alright, so come in. You need to find your friend, right?" Tanuma answered back. Rikuo reluctantly accepted Tanuma's offer and got into to the house, turning to see Natsume's reaction to this. To his horror, however, Natsume was staring out to the field, towards the pond which Kappa was hiding in.

-to be continued-

* * *

><p><strong>[1]<strong>- Youkai don't really bother about gender, or that's what Madara (aka Nyanko) states.

**[2]-** I'm sorry, I don't know what it means in english. :(

**[3]-** Refer to the special at the back of volume 5 of Natsume Yuujinchou! :DD


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everybody!

Here's the latest announcement: This story is reaching its climax! Makes me sad, though. ' ^ '

Okay, this is a little unrelated, but… **Dreams of the future** sent me a challenge the other day, so I'm going to have to write a fanfic based on the topic she came up with (actually, it was her friend who suggested the topic), so… Look forward to it! I'm still busy researching though…

Many thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed and favourited this series! :D

All character credits go back to Yuki Midorikawa-sensei and Hiroshi Shiibashi-sensei!

GYAHH! Sudden downpour! O_O

* * *

><p>"Are you sure? I… think I'll just be troubling you." Rikuo said.<p>

"It's alright, so come in. You need to find your friend, right?" Tanuma answered back. Rikuo reluctantly accepted Tanuma's offer and got into to the house, turning to see Natsume's reaction to this. To his horror, however, Natsume was staring out to the field, towards the pond which Kappa was hiding in.

* * *

><p>"So, you're from Tokyo?" Tanuma confirmed while bringing in some snacks and tea into the room Rikuo was waiting in. He just got a change of clothes from Tanuma and he had switched into them.<p>

"Yeah." Rikuo felt a bit uncomfortable as he had, once again, caused trouble for Natsume's friends. The surprising thing, however, was that Tanuma had clothes of his size. "Where did you get these clothes?"

"They are my old ones. I'm still surprised that they fit." Tanuma laughed a little. Natsume, on the other hand, was a bit uneasy and kept peering over to the pond where Kappa was hiding in. "Hey, Natsume, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, really." Natsume answered quickly. He turned to Rikuo. "Besides, don't you have to find your travelling companion, right? Is it that girl staying with you?"

"Ahh, yeah." Rikuo nods uncertainly.

"Hey, how about Natsume and I help you find her?" Tanuma suggested. Natsume, wide-eyed, turned to his friend.

"It's okay," Rikuo answered before running off. "I've got to go. See you!"

"Hurry, Kappa! We need to find Kubinashi!" Rikuo whispered nervously after ensuring that Natsume and Tanuma could not see him and running over to the pond. Kappa gets out of the pond and follows closely after Rikuo.

**XXX**

**Kubinashi's POV**

Kubinashi was lost in the forest at the eight fields, but after a while, he had finally gotten to another field. Looking around to see where he was, he sees a girl wearing a long brownish-gray coat with a cap of the same colour. She also has shoulder-length hair and seemed to be using a stick to draw something on the ground.

"_She always uses a stick or a bat to attack us!"_ Kubinashi suddenly recalls what the youkai he had attacked said to him.

As he continues to analyze the girl, he notices a small, white coloured piglet-like cat walking past the girl before getting scooped up and hugged. There seemed to be a lot of squealing and complaints before the white piglet-like cat ran away from the girl.

"_Now she has a weird white piglet following her around!"_ Kubinashi decided, without a second thought, that this girl was Reiko. He walked up behind the girl, whom had continued drawing on the ground.

"Hey." Kubinashi said.

"A… floating head?" The girl stammered in fright after turning and seeing Kubinashi. "Are you… a youkai?"

"You… No, Reiko, come with me." Kubinashi spoke once more.

"Huh? Who's Reiko?" The girl questioned before she was knocked out by Kubinashi.

Kubinashi stared at the girl for a while before whispering, "I'm sorry, but I have to do this… Reiko."

**XXX**

**Rikuo's POV**

"Hey! Kubinashi! Where are you?" Rikuo shouted while running about the forest in the Eight Fields with Kappa close behind him. It took them a while before they noticed the group of youkai who were injured by Kubinashi. Rikuo ran over to them and untangled the strings strangling them. "Are you okay?"

"We're fine…" The first youkai stammered in pain before suddenly turning to Rikuo. "Human's child, you can see us?"

"Yeah. What happened to the three of you?" Rikuo asked. The three youkai looked at each other for a while, as if they were deciding whether they should tell Rikuo about their current situation of not.

"We… were attacked." The second youkai explained. "By a really powerful youkai from this 'Nura Clan'."

"Where did he go?" Rikuo asked again, not letting go of his lead to finding Kubinashi.

"He went off towards that direction." The third pointed towards the field before asking, "But why are you looking for him? He's really dangerous and I don't think anyone in the right sense of mind would want to look for him after seeing what he has done to us."

"That's because I'm the third commander of the Nura Clan. And I'm very sorry for what my comrade has done to the three of you." Rikuo bowed apologetically before heading off to the direction specified by the third youkai with Kappa.

All three youkai stared at each other in shock.

**XXX**

"Kubinashi! Kubinashi!" RIkuo shouted over and over before reaching the field specified by the youkai attacked by Kubinashi. His eyes were blinded for a moment after exiting the forest, but he soon notices Kubinashi standing behind a girl in the field. He seemed to be talking to her.

"Kubinashi! Stop!" Rikuo tried to shout, but he had knocked the girl out. Both Rikuo and Kappa ran over to the youkai.

"Kubinashi! What did you do?" Kappa shouted, flustered. Kubinashi stared at Kappa for a while, not understanding what was going on.

"I didn't do anything to her. I just knocked her out." He replied. "Besides, no one would be worrying about her."

"What if her friends or parents can't find her because we took her away then?" Rikuo asked quickly. Suddenly, Aotabo, Kurotabo and Yuki-Onna came.

"Hey, what happened? The news about us originating from the Nura Clan is spreading fast!" Aotabo interrupted Rikuo.

"And from the look of things, Kubinashi's the cause of it." Kurotabo added. Aotabo turned to Kurotabo in shock.

"Umm…" Rikuo tried to get everybody's attention.

"Hey, how did you know that?" Yuki-Onna, in her human form, asked loudly.

"Because I saw Kubinashi attacking that group of youkai earlier on." Kurotabo answered.

"Hey, guys…" Rikuo tried another attempt of getting the attention of his comrades, but failed miserably.

"Why didn't you stop him then?" Kappa asked impatiently.

"I don't have the right to do that." Kurotabo sighed.

"Hey, guys, just listen to me…"

"What do you mean by that?" Aotabo asked angrily, ignoring Rikuo altogether.

"I'm a part of the Nura Clan, and the attacker is part of the Nura Clan, so I do not have the right to intervene-"

"Would you guys just LISTEN?" Rikuo shouted, stopping the bickering between Kappa, Yuki-Onna, Aotabo and Kurotabo. "What's done is done, okay? For now, we just need to decide on what to do with the girl knocked out by Kubinashi! Who is she ANYWAYS?"

"What do you mean, Rikuo-sama?" Kubinashi raised an eyebrow before answering in a matter-of-fact tone, "This person is Reiko."

Everybody stared at Kubinashi for a while before turning to each other.

"EHH?"

-to be continued-

* * *

><p><strong>[AN]:** There's more that meets the eye, guys… For all Natsume Yuujinchou fans, I'm sure you would know who this girl is! :P


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everybody!

Aren't you surprised that I'm here once again? :D Two chapters in one day! I'll tell you what happened: I was threatened (well, I'm over-exaggerating this) by one of my reviewers that if I did not update, he/she would send someone to arrest me. Well, I'm stuck with loads of homework right now, so I don't want that to happen. It'll never happen anyways. :P

Hence, here's the next chapter! It ends at the same cliffhanger, though. (Oher! A spoiler O_O)

Oh yes, I attempted translating the extra in volume five of Natsume Yuujinchou (which I also used in chapter 6) so that my readers will get a feel of how Natsume is like. Some parts of Tanuma's POV are self translated (from my very own, Tong Li published, volume five!) and some are from the chapter online! [Link]

Many thanks to all readers, reviewers and favouriters! 1036 hits! *air hugs*

All character credits go back to Yuki Midorikawa-sensei and Hiroshi Shiibashi-sensei! :D

* * *

><p>"Natsume! You were attacked by another youkai this afternoon?" Nyanko demanded. "For not telling me, I'll have you buy me another bun from Nanatsuji!"<p>

"It's your fault for not being there to protect me, even though you are supposed to be my guardian." Natsume answered back. "Besides, cats aren't supposed to eat buns."

"I already told you before, I'm NOT A CAT!"

* * *

><p><strong>Tanuma's POV <strong>[He debuted in chapter 6, remember?]

_Ever since I was little, I had been able to see some weird things. Things people don't normally feel. They're most likely… The truth is, I don't even know what they are myself._

"_Tanuma-san! If I'm not wrong, You're pretty close with Natsume, aren't you?" One of Natsume's classmates approached Tanuma before passing a slipof paper to him. "This is the thing that the teacher asked me to pass to him." _

"_Okay, I'll pass it to him." Tanuma smiled _

"_Are you sure?" Natsume's classmate smiled before continuing, "That's great. I always feel that it's hard to approach Natsume."_

"_Ehh? He's friendlier that me, though."_

"_Is that true?"_

_My friend and school mate Natsume Takashi seems friendly, but in actual fact, his smiles are fake. That's something unavoidable, isn't it? He has a secret that he can't tell others, which is that he can clearly see youkai._

_For me, who is already having quite a lot of problems just by being able to see their shadows, it's definitely more tiring for Natsume. No matter what happens, however, he barely complains about it._

_Even so, whenever he gets involved with youkai, he never looks for me. I do feel that he's a friend, but… To Natsume, our perspective on youkai must be really different._

_No, maybe he's just being considerate to me, since I get affected by their energy easily._

_Ow, it's here again… My headaches have been more frequent lately…_

There was some rustling in the bushes before something hit Tanuma from behind. Tanuma turned around in shock, only to see a white piglet-looking cat unconscious on the ground, most likely due to crashing onto Tanuma.

"What… What happened…? Oh, I was hit by a cat…" Tanuma analysed the cat. "Isn't this the weird looking cat Natsume brings around everywhere with him? Nyan-nyan sensei, is it?"

"Hey Nyan-Nyan sensei, are you alright? Hey, Nyan-Nyan… Argh, it's a really embarrassing name." Tanuma was in deep thought for a while before continuing, "Let's go with Ponta instead. Hey, Ponta, wake up! Ponta, are you okay? Ponta!"

"I'm…" The cat stirred before leaping up to punch Tanuma, "Nyanko-sensei, you fool!"

"Muu, you're pretty good for a fool." Nyanko said to Tanuma, whom had avoided a direct hit, but fell backwards in shock.

"The… The cat just talked…" Tanuma shuttered.

"Shit, Natsume was still… Hiding my true identity from you…" Nyanko muttered.

"Huh?"

"Well, that makes sense, since you won't be of any help, even though you can see youkai." Nyanko stated.

"That's true, I suppose…" Tanuma paused before continuing, "Hey, Ponta?"

"It's Nyanko-sensei!"

"Nyanko-sensei, are you a youkai?" Tanuma asked.

"Yes, and a very high class one at that." Nyanko answered back.

"I see…" Tanuma smiled a little. "This… is my first time talking to a youkai. Are you Natsume's underling?"

"No, Natsume's my underling." Nyanko stated in a matter-of-fact way.

"What!" Tanuma glared at Nyanko. "You aren't threatening Natsume or anything, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?"

"You don't have any power, right?"

"My identity's been revealed, so I'd better destroy the evidence. Natsume would be very angry at me if he knew about it, so… **Itadakima-**" **[1]** Nyanko was punched in the head by Natsume, who had just arrived.

"What were you trying to do, sensei…" Natsume asked with a very agitated tone, while holding Nyanko up by grabbing his head. **[2]**

"…Natsume, is that cat a youkai?" Tanuma asked, not very sure about the response Natsume was going to give him.

"Ta-Tanuma… It's… not like I was purposely hiding it from you…" Natsume explained, flustered. "He's something like a bodyguard."

**-[CUT! BACK TO THE STORY! _]-**

**Natsume's POV**

"So, you're from Tokyo?" Natsume was feeling uneasy. Not about Rikuo, but about the Kappa he had seen in the pond outside Tanuma's house. He recognized it, even though it looked more human than the one that kept bothering him.

"Yeah." Turning back, Natsume noticed that Rikuo was looking very uncomfortable about Tanuma's hospitality.

"They are my old ones. I'm still surprised that they fit." Tanuma laughed a little. Natsume, on the other hand, peered over to the pond where Kappa was hiding in once more. "Hey, Natsume, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, really." Natsume answered quickly, hoping that the both of them did not suspect anything. He turned to Rikuo. "Besides, don't you have to find your travelling companion, right? Is it that girl staying with you?"

"Ahh, yeah." Rikuo nods uncertainly. Suddenly, Natsume feels a large, killing intent from a youkai in the forest.

"Hey, how about Natsume and I help you find her?" Tanuma suggested. Natsume, wide-eyed, turned to his friend. He could not let Tanuma get involved with that youkai.

"It's okay," Rikuo answered before running off. "I've got to go. See you!"

"Ah, wait!" Natsume shouted, but the traditional sliding doors were closed.

"Natsume? What's wrong?" Tanuma asked his friend worriedly.

"It's nothing important. We'd better stay inside." Natsume sighed, hoping that Rikuo would be alright.

**XXX**

After a while, the killing intent was not as strong as before. Nyanko opened the sliding doors forcefully and quickly got inside, trying not to make a sound.

"Hey Ponta, what happened?" Tanuma asked hurriedly, but was stopped by Nyanko.

"Shhh! That girl may be chasing after me any minute now!" Nyanko dived under the table and hid underneath it. "And my name's not Ponta!"

"Hey, sensei, did a feel a really strong killing intent earlier on?" Natsume whispered to Nyanko, hoping that Tanuma did not hear a thing.

"I did not feel anything. Why do you ask?" Natsume heaved a sigh of relief.

"It must have been my imagination…" Natsume muttered under his breath. After a few attempts of trying to get Nyanko out from underneath the table and saying goodbye to Tanuma, Natsume opened the gates of the Tanuma household. To his surprise, two of his youkai friends were there.

"Chuukyuu, **[3] **what's wrong?" Natsume asked. One one-eyed youkai whispered something to Natsume, causing his eyes to widen. Natsume quickly ran back to where Tanuma was, not bothering to take off his shoes.

"Tanuma! This is bad! Taki's been kidnapped!"

-to be continued-

* * *

><p><strong>[1]- <strong>The effect doesn't come out when it's in English… *apologises*

**[2]-** Please refer to the manga. It's hard to explain this action…

**[3]- **Many thanks to Milennia-hime for this information! *repeated*

* * *

><p><strong>[AN]:** So, mystery solved? :P Yay! I ended this with a cliffhanger… This chapter's longer than the usual, though. And for those who don't know who Taki Tooru is, well… She's one of Natsume's friends. Refer to chapter 17 for her debut in the manga!


	9. Chapter 9

Hey everybody!

If this chapter sucks, I'm really sorry… I think a writer's block (literally) just dropped in front of my fanfiction idea bank in my head, and I was struggling to get this chapter done. This chapter did not even end the way I wanted it to. *sighs*The cause may be the preparation of my next seri- *cut off*and the one-shot challenge Dreams of the future sent to me.

Okay, stopping the complaints, many thanks to all my readers, favouriters and reviewers for all the support! :D

All character rights go back to Yuki Midorikawa-sensei and Hiroshi Shiibashi-sensei, de arimasu!

P.s To all Natsume Yuujinchou fans, I'm sorry if Taki Tooru became a bit OOC… I'm not sure myself, actually. *dies after getting beaten up by NY fans*

* * *

><p>"What do you mean, Rikuo-sama?" Kubinashi raised an eyebrow before answering in a matter-of-fact tone, "This person is Reiko."<p>

Everybody stared at Kubinashi for a while before turning to each other.

"EHH?"

"I... I don't understand, Kubinashi!" Rikuo stammered. "Are you saying that this girl's Reiko?"

"Yeah, no doubt about it." Kubinashi replied, carrying the unconscious girl and passing her to Aotabo.

"Hey Kubinashi, we don't have any proof that she is the person we are looking for, right?" Kurotabo asked.

"Yeah! After all, we only know that she is female and has strong spiritual powers!" Yuki-Onna added.

"Besides, she looks way too young to be a friend of the Supreme Commander in the past!" Kappa continued, waving his arms frantically. Everyone, including Kubinashi, stared at Kappa in shock.

"Those bastards... I'm going to have to beat the crap out them again." Kubinashi snarled under his breath.

"It's too late to regret any past actions. For now, let's find a place where we can discuss what to do next." Rikuo stated quickly, hoping that no one caught Kubinashi attacking the girl he mistook as Reiko.

Suddenly, a weird drawing on the ground caught Rikuo's attention, and he squatted down to take a better look at it. It looked like a runic circle that had signs similar to what the Onmyouji used back during the fight with the Kyoto youkai. 'What's this circle?'

**XXX**

"We should stay low for a while, Rikuo-sama." Kappa said to Rikuo after they had found a pretty spacious cave to hide in.

"Alright, now we have no time to lose." Rikuo gathered the members of his Hyakki Yakou before continuing," What are we going to do about this girl?"

"We could let her go back to where she came from," Yuki-Onna suggested.

"We can't do that anymore! She saw Kubinashi!" Aotabo slammed his hands on the ground in protest. Kurotabo nodded his head in agreement.

"How about we kill her?" Kubinashi asked.

"Of course not!" Everyone chorused together, slightly annoyed.

"I was just kidding. How about we check whether she knows this 'Reiko' person?" There was a moment of silence before all hell broke loose.

"Why didn't we think of that in the first place?" Rikuo shouted, annoyed with his own stupidness.

"Erm... Who are you?" Everyone turned to the source of the voice. It was the girl Kubinashi had tried to kidnap.

"I'm... Nura Rikuo, and the youkai near me are Kappa, Kubinashi, Aotabo, Kurotabo and Tsurara respectively." **[1]** Rikuo stammered a little while quickly introducing himself and the members of his Parade of One hundred demons.

"Youkai...?" The girl stared at them for a while, as if she was trying really hard to see anyone other than Rikuo. "Ahh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Taki Tooru. It's nice to meet you, Rikuo-kun."

'Don't tell me... She can't see youkai?' Rikuo thought. Taki sighed.

"Do... Any of you have a stick?" Taki asked politely. Rikuo picked up one next to his feet and passed it to her, who still seemed a bit unwell from Kubinashi's hit.

"Wait, Rikuo-sama! We don't know if we can trust her yet!" Yuki-Onna shouted in protest.

"It's okay, I'm sure Taki-san won't harm any of you." Rikuo raised his hands and tried to calm Yuki-Onna down. The girl started drawing the same weird runic circle Rikuo saw on the ground earlier on.

"Okay, I'm done." Taki sat inside the circle and beckoned Rikuo to join her. "I'm sorry, but can you ask your youkai friends to enter this circle?"

"Oh, okay." Rikuo was just about to enter the circle when Kubinashi stopped him.

"Rikuo-sama, what if it's a trap?" Kubinashi asked in a serious tone, accidentally stepping into the circle.

"I'm very sorry, but I can't see youkai unless they are inside this circle." Taki replied Kubinashi before explaining, "You see, this circle that I've drawn allows youkai to be seen by normal people."

"Is that true?" Rikuo asked urgently. It was too late to turn back, now that he has involved an innocent person in their search.

"Yeah. For example, I can only see the youkai with the floating head, that surprised me earlier on."

"Ah... Okay. I'll introduce my friends again." Rikuo stood up as his youkai started entering the boundaries of the circle, still unsure whether Taki was someone they could trust. "This is Kubinashi, Kurotabo, Aotabo, Tsurara and Kappa."

Rikuo noticed that Taki looked really interested at the sight of the youkai who were just introduced. It was almost as if her eyes were sparkling.

"So this is how a Kappa looks like, huh?" She walked up to Kappa and started petting his head. "It's way cuter than the one my grandfather drew!"

"Could your grandfather... See youkai?" Rikuo asked, uncertain if it could be a lead in their search.

"No," Taki shook her head and turned to Rikuo. "I heard that his spiritual energy was not very strong. However, he was the one who created this circle so that he could get to see how youkai looked like."

"Hey, I've got a question to ask." Aotabo stepped forward. "I saw a lot of these circles on places outside the eight fields. Exactly what were you trying to do with them?"

"There was a time when I had gotten cursed by a youkai, and he said that if I did not catch him within 360 days, he would eat me and the last thirteen people whose names I called." Rikuo noticed that Taki seemed to be shivering a little. "I got desperate when the day slowly approached, so I drew those circles and tried to find that youkai." **[2]**

"That must have been really scary." Rikuo imagined all the Kyoto youkai attacking him one after another back when he was in Kyoto. "That reminds me, do you know of a person called Reiko?"

"Reiko? I'm sorry, I don't." The girl replied, but seemed hesitant to tell Rikuo some additional information that she knew. "I don't know if I should tell you this, but... Natsume-kun may know about her, since he can see youkai."

"Natsume? As in Natsume Takashi?" Rikuo's eyes widened. "He... can see youkai?"

-to be continued-

* * *

><p><strong>[1]-<strong> imagine that Rikuo's youkai are sitting in a circle, and that Rikuo's at your most left.

**[2]- **Refer to chapters 17 & 18, volume 5 of Natsume Yuujinchou.


	10. Chapter 10

Hi everyone,

Some of you may be asking: Why am I posting this chapter up one day earlier, on Tuesday, the 13th of December?

Here's the answer: It's Kurotabo's birthday! XD

Hence, let's invite him here to speak with us!

Kurotabo: Yo, everyone. I'm Kurotabo.

ANYL (**A N**atsume **Y**uujinchou **L**over): Hai, hai, we know. I just said it earlier on, didn't I? :)

Kurotabo: It's only respectful to introduce yourself, right?

ANYL: Fine... Do you have anything to say to the readers?

Kurotabo: Alright... [mumbling: _Though I'm not very sure myself..._]

ANYL: Did you say something?

Kurotabo: No, Nothing. *ahem* I would like to thank all readers, reviewers and favouriters for supporting this story, especially for Rikuo-sam**-**

ANYL: Okay! Let's stop and continue with the story!

Kurotabo: What? But I'm not done yet!

ANYL: Yeah, whatever. *snaps fingers, Elizabeth enters* Elizabeth, please take him back to the storyboarding studio.

Elizabeth: *holds up signboard* [Only this once, since you have the same birthday as Katsura and is a fan of him.]

Kurotabo: Wait! *getting dragged away*

ANYL: All character rights go back to Yuki Midorikawa-sensei, Hiroshi Shiibashi-sensei and Hideaki Sorachi-sensei (for use of Elizabeth & Katsura)!

P.s Oh yes! I bought the Nurarihyon no Mago guidebook recently! Waiting (impatiently) for the Natsume Yuujinchou one~ :P

* * *

><p><strong>Natsume's POV<strong>

"Taki... Was kidnapped...?" Tanuma's eyes widened after Natsume told him the news he heard from Chuukyuu.

"Yeah. We don't know who the culprits are, though." Nyanko stated. "Well, it's not like I care, anyways."

Natsume glared the cat before noticing that he was trembling slightly as well: He was obviously worried about Taki as much as any of them.

"We should find someone that can help us identify Taki's kidnapper." Natsume suggested to the group, already having someone in mind.

"Alright. I'll search around the area to see if I can find her." Tanuma nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey Tanuma, may I borrow your phone?" Natsume asked hurriedly, and after getting his consent, quickly dialled a phone number.

The line kept ringing for a while, but the call had finally gotten through.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Natori-san! It's me, Natsume!" Natsume quickly answered the exorcist on the other end of the line.

"Natsume-kun? That's a surprise. I never thought that you'd ever call me." The person on the other end laughed a little. "So, what's up?"

"One of my friends has been kidnapped by a group of youkai!" Natsume replied anxiously.

"Whoa! Natsume-kun, calm down!" Natori seemed to be doing a one-handed motion as an attempt to calm Natsume down. "Could you repeat yourself?"

"My friend has been kidnapped by a group of youkai!" Natsume spoke slower, but his voice still as anxious.

"Kidnapped, huh... How do they look like?"

"I'm not sure, but some of my youkai friends told me about my friends kidnapping." Natsume answered before quickly adding, "They can be trusted!"

"I would love to come over now, Natsume-kun, but I can't leave the recording studio until late afternoon." Natori seemed to be pondering a while before continuing, "How about I meet you outside your house at sunset?"

"I guess... That would be okay." Natsume held back his thoughts about the agreement. He was, after all, interrupting Natori's day job as an actor.

"Alright, I'll see you then! Bye bye!" The line was cut off.

Natsume sighed as he put down the phone and turned to look for his guardian, who was nowhere to be seen.

"Nyanko-sensei?"

* * *

><p><strong>Nyanko's POV<strong>

Nyanko pouted. Natsume was relying on an Natori Shuuichi to help him find Taki Tooru. Well, that made sense, since he is an exorcist, but he always seemed to forget about his other source (which to Nyanko was so much more reliable) - Misuzu.

Basically, Misuzu's a giant horse with hooves for his left hand and a proper hand for his right. Quite a while back, he had asked Natsume to return his name, but decided to let him keep it so that Natsume could call for him whenever the situation called for it.

"I'm going to make that stupid Natsume buy me another bun from Nanatsuji," Nyanko cursed under his breath, but was interrupted by a small frog, which had jumped on his head. "Hey, Misuzu, get your follower off my head!"

"What is it, Madara? **[1]**" Misuzu appeared from the shadows of the forest.

"Have you heard of the youkai clan that had come into the eight fields recently?" Misuzu was in deep thought for a while.

"Of course I have. The clan dominates the Tokyo area and recently they were battling another group known as the Hundred stories clan." Misuzu stated before continuing, "Why? Have they perked your interest?"

"It's none of your business. What's the name of that clan?" Nyanko demanded.

"The Nura clan, named after their first supreme commander Nurarihyon." Nyanko was in deep thought- he was right. Nura Rikuo had something to do with youkai. It was no wonder he kept feeling youkai energy at night, when Natsume was asleep.

"Well, you had better tell me more about this Nura clan."

* * *

><p><strong>Natsume's POV<strong>

Natsume was pacing around his room impatiently. Taki was kidnapped by youkai, Natori was only able to meet him at sunset, he did not want to let Tanuma get involved and Nyanko-sensei had suddenly vanished.

"Takashi-kun, your friend's here!" Touko called to Natsume from the first floor.

"Coming!" Natsume literally ran down the stairs and towards the door.

"Is it okay if I bring him out tonight?" Natori asked Touko as Natsume had just reached the door. "There's a firework display in the next town."

"It's no problem," Touko answered before Natsume could. "Just enjoy yourselves, okay?"

"... Yes." Natsume shot Natori a quick glare, the exorcist still smiling as if nothing had happened. It was only until they were a distance away from the Fujiwara residence that he spoke.

"Natsume-kun, what was the glare for?" Natori asked, still smiling, but an evil aura oozing out of him.

"You could have come up with a better lie." Natsume replied.

"Hmm... True. But I thought that it would be better if we got out of there fast." Before Natsume could ask him why, Natori continued, "I've got information on that clan from a colleague of mine."

"What kind of information?"

"Firstly, that clan dominates the Tokyo area. Secondly, the youkai of that clan form something called a Hundred demon parade. Thirdly, their clan is named after their first commander, Nurarihyon." Natori stated the first few facts before turning to Natsume, "Are you listening?"

"Ah, yes." Natsume actually thought that he felt some youkai energy nearby. "What is the name of their clan?"

"The Nura Clan." Natori answered.

Natsume turned, staring wide-eyed at Natori before turning back in deep thought. _It can't be... Nura Rikuo? He's involved in Taki's kidnapping? No, he's a really nice person, and I shouldn't make any weird assumptions about him. It could be a different clan altogether._ "Natori-san, what are we going to do then?"

"We're going to get your friend back. What else?" Natori answered once more with his smile still fixated on his face. "Besides, this colleague of mine is a really good liar. Not like he'll lie to me about this, though."

- To be continued -

* * *

><p><strong>[1]-<strong> Madara is Nyanko's actual name.

**[A/N]:** I'm sorry... This chapter ended weirdly. It was going to be too long. *dies*


	11. Chapter 11

Hi everybody,

Christmas is coming soon, so as a present you all, I'll make an Omake for you all! It will be named Chapter 11.5, and it'll be out on the 25th of December! :P (apologies to any Russians who read this story- your Christmas is on January 7!)

Many thanks to all my readers, reviewers and favouriters! :D

Oh yes, regarding **no-one**'s review, yes. Natori Shuuichi's colleague is Keikain Ryuuji. I thought of mentioning some of Nurarihyon no Mago's other characters since the characters in this story are restricted to those who went to Natsume's hometown.

And before I forget, I'll be writing different POVs in the same chapter, so when there's a line break, that shows a change in the POVs.

All character rights go back to Yuki Midorikawa-sensei and Hiroshi Shiibashi-sensei!

* * *

><p>"Reiko? I'm sorry, I don't." The girl replied, but seemed hesitant to tell Rikuo some additional information that she knew. "I don't know if I should tell you this, but... Natsume-kun may know about her, since he can see youkai."<p>

"Natsume? As in Natsume Takashi?" Rikuo's eyes widened. "He... Can see youkai?"

* * *

><p>"That... That can't be true!" Rikuo's legs gave way and he fell to the ground, unable to believe what Taki had just stated earlier on.<p>

"Rikuo-sama, this is the truth." Kurotabo spoke up, earning a shocked look from everyone. "This friend of yours... Can see youkai."

"When did you know about this? And how?" Yuki-Onna asked.

"It was after we had saved Rikuo-sama from that weird youkai yesterday." Aotabo explained. "He happened to meet us in the eight fields."

"Why didn't you tell me then?" Rikuo shouted impatiently.

"Thats because you, of all people, should be able to understand his feelings, Rikuo-sama!" Kurotabo raised his voice, holding Rikuo back from what he had wanted to continue shouting.

It was obvious that Rikuo knew how Natsume would have felt. Back before he was the Third Commander of the Nura Clan, he had been trying to keep the secret of his identity from his own friends, protecting them from the youkai that caused trouble in Tokyo.

Maybe... Just maybe... He had suspected of Natsume being able to see youkai, but kept denying himself o that thought, trying to keep him out of the youkai world and not causing trouble for him.

"Erm... Nura-kun?" Rikuo turned to Taki, who had been listening to their conversation. "I think... You're very much like Natsume-san."

"Ehh...?"

"Well, the both of you are always trying not to get others involved in the youkai world so you act like you're very anti-social, but you both are actually very caring, aren't you? To both humans and youkai." Taki spoke, blushing a little and is seemingly trying to find the perfect words to phrase what she had just said.

"I guess... She's got a point there." Kappa broke the silence created after Taki's statement, scratching the back of his head.

"I guess." Kubinashi tried to nod his head in agreement, but his floating head made it harder to do so.

"Rikuo-sama! What should we do now?" Yuki-Onna chirped, waiting to get an order from the Third Commander.

"You guys will go and find Natsume-san to explain the current situation. I'll stay here and protect Taki-san." Rikuo replied before continuing, "The sun is setting soon, anyways."

As the members of Rikuo's hundred demon parade left the cave in a hurry, Rikuo's Night form took over as he continued standin in Taki's circle.

"Don't worry, Taki. I'll protect you from any youkai." Rikuo smiled as Taki stared dumbfounded at the now youkai Rikuo.

* * *

><p><strong>Natsume's POV<strong>

"Natori-san, what are you going to do with that?" Natsume asked as Natori continued drawing a circle used to catch youkai on the ground.

"This? I'm going to catch these youkai, of course." Natori replied with a slightly sadistic smile. "After all, youkai from the famous Nura Clan should be pretty strong."

"We don't have to capture them, right? I mean..." Natsume paused for a while before continuing, "We just have to force them to reveal Taki's location to us."

"That's naïve thinking, Natsume-kun. Haven't you been attacked by youkai too many times before?" Natori asked. Natsume knew the answer, but even so, he wasn't going to harm youkai unnecessarily. Before he could reply, Natori continued, "The sun's setting. Be on a lookout for any youkai."

Suddenly, the bushes nearly rustled a little, before a black figure jumped out of it.

"Look out, Natsume. Here it comes!" Natori almost shouted.

* * *

><p><strong>Nyanko's POV<strong>

During Natsume's meeting with Natori, Nyanko was having a meeting with Natsume's youkai companions.

"Okay guys, listen up: For the past few days, the Nura Clan from Tokyo had been staying in the eight fields." Nyanko explained, the rest of the youkai around him not paying much attention.

"There's nothing wrong with that, Madara." Hinoe gulped down a bottle of wine before continuing, "It's just some youkai from a really powerful clan."

"Yes, and that is why we have to find out what they are here for and chase them out after that! But before that, we have a terrible problem..." Nyanko continued before turning into his actual form and shouted, "Is anyone even listening to me?"

"Madara-sama, calm down!" Benio ran over to the giant cat youkai and tried to calm him down using whatever methods she could- All of which failed miserably.

"Nothing much happened, right?" A little fox youkai perked up, listening to Nyanko's statement since he couldn't drink wine yet.

"Didn't you hear about what just happened this morning?" One of the Chuukyuu turned to the fox youkai. "Some youkai were attacked in the eight fields this morning. And Natsume-dono's friend has been kidnapped!"

It was at that moment that everyone gathered there had stopped drinking, joking and seriously turned to that one-eyed Chuukyuu, all of them (except Nyanko, both Chuukyuu and Misuzu) shouted, "Couldn't you have told us that sooner?"

"I was going to get to that point!" Nyanko shouted, not very happy that he always had to repeat himself. "So, what should we do?"

The youkai gathered there burst into discussion, some suggesting that they attack the youkai clan, others strategizing ways to get Taki back.

"Enough!" Nyanko shouted to the group, getting everyone's attention for once. "Here's the plan: We will all split up in group of two or three to find Taki. If anyone of you happens to meet the clan members, you are more than welcome to battle with them. Are you clear?"

"Yes sir!"

* * *

><p><strong>Rikuo's POV<strong>

"Nura-san, are you a human or a youkai?" Taki asked after the Hundred Demon Parade's youkai had left the cave. Rikuo turned around, showing a slightly intrigued expression before smirking.

"I am one quarter youkai and three quarters human," Rikuo explained. "And it's because of my blood that I can only turn into my youkai form at night."

Without warning, Taki's eyes started sparkling and she tried to hug Rikuo the same way she did to Nyanko. Fortunately, Rikuo managed to dodge her surprise attack.

"What... were you trying to do...?" Rikuo stammered in shock. Before Taki could reply, however, Rikuo felt very strong youkai energy from the entrance of the cave. Getting into attack position, Rikuo said, "Be careful, Taki. A very powerful youkai is coming."

True to Rikuo's words, a giant horse youkai with a right hand appeared, snarling ferociously at the two. Rikuo drew Nenekimaru and got ready for the youkai's attack.

-To be continued-

* * *

><p><strong>[AN]:** Erm... Hi guys, I'm just here to announce that this may be the second or third last chapter (excluding the Omake) because I need to concentrate on my major exams next year, so I'm trying to complete this series by the end of this year. Besides, if I wanted to continue this chapter, it would be way too long. Thank you so much to everyone who has supported this story, and have an early Merry Christmas!


	12. Omake

This chapter has plain randomness and no explanations what-so-ever. If you want to turn back now, you can do so. The usual chapters will be out on this Wednesday, as per usual. Merry Christmas, by the way! ^^ (All character rights go back to... Well, just read the bottom part.)

* * *

><p>"Hey everyone! Merry Christmas! Guess who I am?"<p>

[Who gives a damn about who you are?]

"That's so mean, Elizabeth... After all that I've done for this story!"

[Okay, you're the author of this story, Jamie.]

"Elizabeth! Not my real name!"

*Sound of fighting and bones breaking*

"Phew. Hey, dear readers! It's the one and only... **A Natsume Yuujinchou lover!** Nice to meet'cha all!"

"Today, we'll be going to the storyboarding studio of this story **When they meet**! Let's go in and meet the cast!"

*opens door*

"Hey everybody! Sorry for asking you guys to come back today. Let's introduce the cast for Natsume Yuujinchou!"

"I'm... Natsume Takashi."

"Muu, you lowly human, asking me to come in here."

"Nyan-Nyan sensei, please introduce yourself. Or else, I'll create some misfortune for you in Chapter 12." *Evil Aura*

"Fine. I'm Madara, or you can call me Nyanko-sensei."

"Now for the Nurarihyon no Mago cast!"

"Okay... Good morning. I'm Nura Rikuo."

"Oikawa Tsurara!"

"I'm Aotabo!"

"My name is Kurotabo."

"Kubinashi."

"Mine's Kappa!"

"Just to let everyone know, Tanuma wasn't invited as he is very sensitive to youkai, Natori is busy filming the fourth season of Natsume Yuujinchou and Taki couldn't make it for reasons unknown."

"Erm... What do you mean by reasons unknown-"

"Alright! Let's get on with the recording. We will be doing the recording process of chapter one!"

"Erm... A Natsume Yuujinchou Lover-san..."

Hmm? What is it, Rikuo?"

"Why is there a weird penguin-like duck standing beside you?"

"Huh? GYAAAAHH! Elizabeth! What are you doing here?"

[So that you can stop this so-called Omake and continue that Gintama and Katekyo Hitman Reborn X-over that you originally wanted to post for Christmas.]

(flips the signboard) [Katsura's featuring in it.]

"Elizabeth! No spoilers! And how did you know that anyways?"

*Elizabeth takes out his sunglasses and puts them on, trying to act cool*

[I have my resources... HEY!]

*Elizabeth is dragged backstage*

"Now that that's settled, we can finally continue."

"I have a question though..."

"What is it NOW, Kappa?"

"What are Gintama and Katekyo Hitman Reborn, A Natsume Yuujinchou lover?"

"Just call me Jolly. It'll take me ages to explain what those two are, so let's just continue, okay?"

"Right..."

"Let's begin!"

*Seiyuu microphones drop from the ceiling and in front of the cast*

_"Mic test, One, Two, Three… Hey EVERYBODY! Did you guys miss me?_ _Anyways, my End of Year Examinations are officially over! Continuing my author's note, I was wondering why my pen name was "A Natsume Yuujinchou lover" when I did not write any fanfic for Natsume Yuujinchou! Here's the anime used for this story: This is a Natsume Yuujinchou and Nurarihyon no Mago crossover!"_

"Muu, let's just begin the story already! What on earth is with your long Author's Notes?"

"It's the only time I get to speak, okay? Just let me!"

"There's no way I would ever let you, you..."

*Jolly holds up Nekozawa's cursed cat doll and smirks sadistically*

"... lowly human."

"Let's delete that part later and continue with the Narrating lines!"

"Kubinashi, like I said before this whole Omake started... Stop interrupting the story flow!"

"Yeah! Stop wasting Rikuo-sama's time!"

"Yuki-Onna, you too. Fine! Let's skip the narrating part and go on to the conversation!"

"Wait, where's our Supreme commander?"

"Didn't he have things to say in the first chapter as well?"

"GAH! I FORGOT him! Sorry guys, let's just skip to answering the fan questions that came in overnight. Give your best shot, guys! It's Christmas!"

"Hai~"

"But, before that...!"

*Whistles, Haru enters*

"Rikuo-sama! Be careful!" / "Muu, another weird person!"

"Hahi? What am I doing here?"

"Thanks for coming, Haru. Let's start the interview!"

"Wait, who is she?"

"She's Haru from Katekyo Hitman Reborn!"

"Ehh?"

"Haru-san, why did you 'ehh' too? Weren't you invited?"

"No, Haru was in a Christmas party with Tsuna-san when she was suddenly covered in a cloud!"

"That doesn't make any sense!"

"Well, there's nothing we can do, so let's just continue! Haru, here's the script, so please begin!"

"Ahh, okay! Welcome to Haru's Haru Haru interview! Today we'll be interviewing the cast of When the meet!"

*Appluase*

"Here's question one: Is Nyan Nyan sensei strong in his original form?"

"It's not Nyan Nyan-sensei you fool, it's Nyanko-sensei!"

"Hahi! The pig talked!"

"I'm not a pig, you fool! I'm a high-class youkai!"

"Nyan Nyan-sensei, what do you mean by 'fool'?"

"It's exactly that, and stop calling me Nyan Nyan-sensei!"

"Okay, let's move on to the next question. Why is it that Kubinashi's head can float?"

"That's true! I never noticed!"

"How could she not notice..."

"Well, it's a long story, so it'll take a while to explain... And I don't feel like saying it either..."

"Ahh, it's alright, Kubinashi-san! Don't stress yourself!"

"Hey! When will there be a question about Rikuo-sama?"

"Okay, one is coming up now. Haru!"

"Next question: What is Natsume and Ponta's relationship?"

"Hey! That's not related to Rikuo-sama at all!"

"Yeah! Doesn't Rikuo-sama deserve some screentime since he's the main character?"

"I'm just following the script!"

"Sorry, looks like Elizabeth swapped the third and last question. Let's just continue first."

"Hahi? Who's Elizabeth?"

"That penguin-like duck backstage. Go see him for yourself."

*Elizabeth stomps in*

[So, are you ready to let Katsura appear now?]

"Sorry Elizabeth, not now. I'm low on inspiration."

[You...] *Gettin ready to beat up Jolly*

"Are you a cosplayer as well?"

[What?]

"You're costume is really cool! May I take a photo of it?"

[Uhh, sure...]

"Just hurry up! The audience is getting bored already!"

"Since the interviewer is busy, we'll just ask Natsume now."

"Erm... Nyanko-sensei is my guardian. He protects me from hostile youkai."

"So, Natsume-kun, are you Nyanko-sensei's master or something?"

"Muu, that's not even close. I'm Natsume's master."

"What?"

"Okay guys, no fighting in the studio. Let's move on to the last question. Haru!"

"Okay! This question was suggested by Jolly's sister. What does Nyanko-sensei think of *Rikuo?*

cheep cheep cheep cheeeeeep...

"What kind of question is that for Rikuo-sama?"

"Yuki-Onna, calm down and stop shouting."

"Before I do that, what is with the weird sound effect?"

"It's not weird! Have you ever heard Fairy Tail's?"

*Wow~*

"Hahi! Now that's weird!"

Anyways, Nyanko, just answer the last question and we can all go home."

"He is just some half- youkai human whom I shouldn't even bother about. Plus, he is a total weakling."

"Nyanko-sensei!"

"Why, you… How could you say such things about Rikuo-sama!"

"Guys, you don't have to get so agitated!"

"Rikuo-sama, we can't just ignore his comment!"

"That's true!"

*Fight between NnM & NY characters start*

"Hahi! Now they're all fighting!"

"Many thanks to anyone who actually reads this, because halfway through I lost the motivation I originally had for this Omake. I would like to thank **Yuki Midorikawa**-sensei, **Hiroshi Shiibashi**-sensei, **Hideaki Sorachi**-sensei, **Bisco Hatori**-sensei and **Akira Amano**-sensei for the use of characters."

"Oh yes, if you have anything negative to say about this chapter, you can just click the review button below. I know this chapter sucks because it's really random. Lastly, Merry Christmas, everyone!"

*Jolly vanishes in a cloud of smoke.*

"Hahi! Where did the author go?"

-Omake end-


	13. Chapter 12

**[A/N]**

Hi everyone! I know it's a little sudden, but I'm taking down this chapter for slight editing. The ending was unsatisfactory (both in my opinion and others), and I'm not very sure when it will be back up. I hope all of you will enjoy the edited version when it's out, though. Have a great day!

ANYL


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